Cycling for rowing training.

sig.fig.

I was initially undecided as to whether I should place this in the Sport of H&R forum, but here it is.

I'm quite interested in starting rowing but have decided training using an ergo wouldn't be such a great idea because:
i) If my technique is poor I could develop bad habits.
ii) Ergometers are big and expensive.

So I thought using a cycling machine may be useful. So, for any boaties out there, what sort of training would you recommend using a cycling machine. Would it be long distance aerobic training, or something for like HIIT.
I know the general opinion is that the best way to train for rowing is to row, but unfortunately that isn't an option at the moment.
Thanks in advance!

Reply 1

Barny

Its not the "general opinion" - its fact, cycling will improve your cycling, rowing will improve your rowing, theres no two ways about it, you can make small "cross-over" improvements by the fact that if you are unfit in the first place than your cardiovascular system will be more efficient after a period of training from either, but if you're anything other than a beginner it'll be worthless.

The only help I can see is for a cycling machine to maintain body composition/improve it, and maybe help with leg strength if the right training is done.

Reply 2

sig.fig.

imasillynarb

and maybe help with leg strength if the right training is done.

And what precisely does this constitute?

Reply 3

mikeyT

Rowing is a power/endurance sport. So you need the best of both really. Any sort of cardio work will help with the endurance side. And if you can do some endurance weights then great!
I see that you're hoping to be rowing at Oxford. I can tell you that the bumps races will generally last anything from 4 minutes to 9 minutes depending on the standard of the rowers in the boat and where you start in the race. Even though the races are this short, we still train for a lot longer than this. Generally any cycling lasts for an hour without breaks in between and continuously working hard throughout the workout. You don't really want to do much interval training because you have to row continuously.
When you make the transition from cycling to rowing, you may feel that you get tired earlier than normal. This happens because rowing uses some upper body as well.
Start the cycling and build a good endurance base.